Cristina Cecchi, PhD

JAD profile

Affiliation(s): 

University of Florence; Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Sciences

Areas of Interest: 

Protein misfolding diseases, Alzheimer and Parkinson Diseases

Biography & Research: 

Cristina Cecchi was a Specialist in Biochemistry and Clinical Chemistry since 1995 and PhD in Biochemistry since 2001. On 2001 she held a Researcher position in Biochemistry and on 2015 she held a Professor position at the Department of Biomedical, Experimental and Clinical Sciences at the University of Florence. A wide range of human pathologies arises from the failure of a specific peptide or protein to adopt, or remain in, its native functional conformational state. These pathological conditions are generally referred to as protein misfolding diseases. The experimental study in Cristina's lab uses cellular and molecular approaches to investigate the mechanisms by which protein misfolded oligomers cause cell dysfunction. 
Here is a list of past and ongoing projects: - Study of the pathogenesis of Alzheimers disease and amiotrophic lateral sclerosis - Study of the relationship between structure and toxicity of protein oligomers - Study of the protective role of molecular chaperones against oligomer toxicity - Study of the protective role of glutathione thioesters against oligomer-induced oxidative stress and investigation of their anti-aging effects - Study of the effect of membrane lipid components, such as GM1 and cholesterol, on the oligomer toxicity In particular, the experimental studies employ different animal and cell models including C. elegans nematodes, rats models, and different types of cultured cells such as primary cultures (hippocampal and cortical neurons from rat brains, skin fibroblasts from familial Alzheimers disease patients) and immortalized cell lines (human and murine neuroblastoma cells). Projects involve use of specific protocols to assess cell viability, oxidative stress and calcium dyshomeostasis mainly by confocal microscopy and FACS techniques.